Type-writer keyboard.



S, W. HOWELL. TYPE WRITER KEYBOARD. APPLICATION FILED JULY 3, 1909.

943,466. 7 Patented Dec. 1 4, 1909.

EVIL; 1 wow v swmgwfl mm a q M and 0 i 6 [To awe/1 o nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn UNITED sTATEs ra'rnn'r oiuuon SIDNEY ROWELL, OF ALBANY, INE'W YORK.

TYPE-WRITER KEYBOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 14 1909 Application filed JulyB, 1909. Serial-No. 505,820.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known, that I, S1DNEY'lV.-RowE-LL, a citizen of the United States, residing atAlbany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-Writer Keyboards; and I do hereby declare the follow-, ing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others commonly used are the keyboard.

skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates 'to the art of arranging the key letters of a typewriter keyboard and has for an object to produce an arrangement whereby the letter keys most grouped at the center of A further object. of the invention is to produce a key board havingthe letters most commonly used grouped at the center and.

with .the letter keysoften used but with less frequency grouped upon opposite sides -of such center group with the seldom used; letters positioned upon opposite sides and without the last-mentioned groups.

In the drawing is shown in plan the key board of a typewriter employing the usual and ordinary manipulation keys, as the margin release key 1, the shift keys 2 and 3, and the shift look 4, such keys forming no part of the present invention and being illustrated simply for the purpose of properly identifymg the invention with the conventional keyboard. Along the top of the key board are also arranged the keys representing numerals and characters in'the usual ordinary manner, such top row forming no part of the present invention. Y

At the center of the key board a group of nine letters is provided as follows H O R S E 'A w T I N ll pon each of the letter keys shown on the drawing numerals appear representing the relative frequency of use of theseveral letters. From a computation based upon such figures it 1s apparent that the nine letters appearing on the above group represent sixty nine per cent. of the total letters used. The

nine letters referred to appear within dotted parallelogram indicated on the drawmg at Upon opposite sides of the group of nine letters just referred to appear two .other groups of three letters, each follows, such groups being shown onthe drawings within the dottedparallelogram (3 and 7 respectively. Based upon a computation the same as heretofore employed it is found that the last two groups of six letters represent nineteen per cent. of the letters used so that the entire three groups of fifteen letters arranged as shown within the parallelograms. 5,' G and 7 represent eighty-eight per cent. of the total number of letters used. It will, therefore, be apparentthat practically all of the writing will be accomplished right at the middle of the keyclaim is made, however, for the grouping of such other. letters.

What I claim is v 1. A typewriter key board so arranged that the group of letters HOB SEA

TIN

is positioned approximately at the center of the key board.

2. A typewriter key board 'so arranged that the nine letters most commonly used are grouped approximately at the center of the key board and the groups M U arranged upon opposite sides of such. center group.

board where the letters will be in position to i 3. A typewriter keyboard so arranged that the group of letters F H O R D C S E A L I M 'T I N U is positioned approximately at the center of the key board. 4. A typewriterwkey board so arranged 10 that the letters H, S, T, O,'E-, I, R, A and N appear in a group of three rows of three let- .ters each.

pear in a groupiof three. rows of three lines each positioned approximately at the center of the key board.

In testimony. whereof I aflix my Signature in presence of two witnesses.

Y I SIDNEY WQRo E L.

Witnesses: p GERRIT Y. LANSING,

' JEANIE MINOTBOWELL. 

